Construction 2020 A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector May 2014 Construction 2020 BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH ARNA FHOILSIÚ AG OIFIG AN tSOLÁTHAIR Le ceannach díreach ó FOILSEACHÁIN RIALTAIS, 52 FAICHE STIABHNA, BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH 2. Fón: +353 1 647 6834 nó 1890 213434 Facs: +353 1 647 6843 nó trí aon díoltóir leabhar. DUBLIN PUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICE To be purchased from GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS, 52 ST. STEPHEN’S GREEN, DUBLIN 2. Tel: +353 1 647 6834 or 1890 213434 Fax: +353 1 647 6843 or through any bookseller. Price €7.00 ISBN 978-1-4064-2820-9 Construction 2020 A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector 1 | P a g e Construction 2020 Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 4 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 6 2. A Strategic Approach to Housing .................................................................................................... 9 3. Planning......................................................................................................................................... 20 4. Commercial Sector ........................................................................................................................ 28 5. Energy Efficiency and Sustainability ............................................................................................. 31 6. Infrastructure and Public Investment ........................................................................................... 35 7. Financing Growth .......................................................................................................................... 40 8. Standards, Regulation and Enforcement ...................................................................................... 49 9. Improving Education and Skills – Helping Create Jobs and Reduce Unemployment ................... 53 10. Competitiveness, Innovation and Internationalisation ............................................................ 57 11. Implementation and Oversight ................................................................................................. 60 Summary of Actions by Quarter ........................................................................................................... 62 2 | P a g e Construction 2020 3 | P a g e Construction 2020 Foreword The Government was elected to deliver reform, renewal and recovery. This is arguably more relevant to the construction sector than to most. Many factors contributed to the economic catastrophe that hit this country. Many, if not most, of them – lax political management, reckless lending and borrowing, speculative greed, short-term thinking, poor planning and low standards – were features of our boom-time approach to property development and construction. The legacy – lost jobs, unmanageable mortgages, debt overhang, negative equity, houses on flood- plains, shoddy and sub-standard apartments, ghost estates – remains all too human and real. We are working our way through it, and we will continue to do so. But it is time for a fresh start, one in which the lessons learnt from what went wrong are applied to the creation of a renewed and vibrant construction industry fit for the future. That is what this Strategy is about. Ireland needs a strong and sustainable construction sector. We need good quality homes to live in. High-quality commercial developments to underpin economic recovery and growth. Infrastructure fit for the future, whether in telecommunications, water or energy networks. We need people gainfully employed and equipped with world-class skills. Competitive companies able to access the funding they need. Mortgages available on reasonable terms, and consumers confident of high standards and proper oversight. We need a planning system that supports that vision – that makes sure that we are building the right things, in the right places, and that we are not placing unnecessary obstacles in the way of urgently needed and appropriate development. This Strategy is also about jobs. We have set ourselves the ambitious objective of returning the economy to full employment by 2020, and in doing so, replacing all of the jobs lost during the crisis. Having successfully exited the bailout, we have said our top focus for this year will be on getting people back to work. This Strategy is an essential part of that effort. We are determined to help all of those on the Live Register find meaningful and rewarding employment. We are making important progress, but there are still tens of thousands of people with a background in construction without work. We will continue to do all we can to assist their return to the workforce, including through extending the use of social clauses in public contracts and helping them update and renew their skills. An appropriately sized construction sector can help to deliver jobs across the country, not just to those directly involved in the industry, but to the manufacturing, retail and professional sectors that it supports. It can help to underpin the future competitiveness of the country, ensuring that we continue to be well-positioned to attract the inward investment that has been so important to our economic development. 4 | P a g e Construction 2020 In this Strategy we have set out a focussed programme of action to deliver a strong, sustainable, well-financed, competitive and innovative approach to construction and housing, building to the highest standards, at realistic levels and with consumer protection at its heart. Implementing it will require a big effort – both inside and outside Government - and a whole-of- Government approach. We are determined to ensure that it is advanced with the determination, energy and commitment it deserves. Enda Kenny T.D. Eamon Gilmore T.D. Taoiseach Tánaiste 5 | P a g e Construction 2020 1. Introduction Our Vision Ireland needs a competitive, innovative, dynamic, safe and sustainable construction sector; one that makes its full and proper contribution to the economy and to job creation, and one that is based on best practice and capable of delivering the economic and social infrastructure we need to build to sustain a prosperous future. This Strategy sets out steps to take us closer to that goal over the immediate and longer term. It builds on the detailed framework for accelerated recovery of the sector published by Forfás last year1, as well as on progress since, including the Government’s policy statement on construction of July 2013. The Strategy aims both to increase the capacity of the sector to create and maintain jobs, and to deliver a sustainable sector, operating at an appropriate level. It seeks to learn the lessons of the past and to ensure that the right structures and mechanisms are in place so that they are not repeated. The Government is committed to working with industry and other interested parties to deliver this strategy. We expect industry to play its part, to step-up to the mark and deliver a world-class and competitive construction sector. Having grown too big during the boom, the sector is now seriously underperforming, both in terms of economic contribution and in employment. This is a cause of concern. By 2012, the volume of production in building and construction had fallen to less than a quarter of the 2006 peak, and it remains less than half of the volume seen in the year 2000. Index of the Volume of Production in Building and Construction (Base 2010 = 100) Source: CSO 1 Ireland’s Construction Sector: Outlook and Strategic Plan to 2015 (Forfás, 2013) 6 | P a g e Construction 2020 A properly functioning and sustainable construction sector is important for us all. In the immediate term it can help drive recovery in the domestic economy, creating and sustaining direct and indirect jobs across the country. It can facilitate the return to work of the many unemployed people with a background in the industry, reducing the number of construction workers on the Live Register. It is also essential to the future social and economic well-being of the country – if we are to have the housing and infrastructure we will need in the years and decades to come, we need to be planning for and building them now. Failure to do so will constrain our future potential for growth. This Strategy, therefore, has a particular focus on steps that can be taken in the immediate future to ensure that necessary and sensible development can take place, and that it is not held back by unnecessary obstacles. It moves us closer to the world-class, competitive and dynamic sector we want to see in Ireland. Construction and development is a complex process in which many factors, actors and influences are in play. All need to be in balance if the process is to work efficiently. This Strategy therefore addresses issues including: a strategic approach to the provision of housing, based on real and measured needs, with mechanisms in place to detect and act when things are going wrong; continuing improvement of the planning process, striking the right balance between current and future requirements; the availability of financing for viable and worthwhile projects; access to mortgage finance on reasonable and sustainable terms; ensuring we have the tools we need to monitor and regulate the sector in a way that underpins public confidence and worker safety; ensuring a fit for purpose sector supported